


Rococo Denial

by gokimoo



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Developing Relationship, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Mild Smut, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest, Romance, Royalty, Secret Relationship, Some Humor, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 12:03:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19272916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gokimoo/pseuds/gokimoo
Summary: The unlikely romance between a thief and a prince who cannot stop staring at each other. Nina x Siegbert. Based on events of Fire Emblem: Conquest. Please view notes before reading. My headcanon.





	Rococo Denial

**Author's Note:**

> hello! there are a few things I feel like I should explain before you read this. first of all, I understand this is a major crack ship since there is NOTHING written about this pairing. during my first playthrough of conquest, I decided to pair the two up because I love the opposites in pairings and I wanted to see how their supports were. if you haven't read them, they are disappointing and there was so much wasted potential in their supports. so, I decided to write one of my fav fe pairings a try. I sincerely love these two and I'm sorry if some things may be off, it has been a minute since I've played conquest. my parent pairings are niles x nyx and xander x charlotte. please note I'm still terrified to put my writing up online oOPS anyway hope you enjoy!!

Rococo Denial

Nina x Siegbert, Fire Emblem: Conquest

.

There weren’t any outstanding qualities Siegbert had that intrigued her. Quiet, maybe a little reserved, never spoke out of turn. Had some pretty white teeth. Nina found him quite bland, but convinced herself it was just because she didn’t know him well. She also was slightly jealous that her crooked front tooth was more noticeable than his pretty white teeth.

He wasn’t always so dull to her, though. The two became closer after their own innocent espionage on two male soldiers- only these soldiers ended up being only construction workers, his heroic anxiety getting the best of him before he can assess the situation. Before that, the mere distant glance at him made her eyes roll. Of course, his complete naivety to the world around him pissed her off, as if he was still a child trapped in the deep realms. The way he carried himself with the weight of a prince on his shoulders. It wasn’t that he was arrogant or stuck-up, like many of the rich folk she encountered in her thievery days, but that he was so oblivious to how he looked to others. Well, at least to her _._ So silently prideful, trying so hard to make his father proud, something she gagged at the thought of if she was in his boots.

Siegbert was so serious in becoming a noble knight, a goody two-shoes, some kind of beloved hero _like his father_ \- it disgusted her. Thinking he was above the rest of them just because he was next in line to the throne, putting himself higher than the other kids in the castle because he had to _focus on his duties._ Again, at least to her. While he stressed out about swinging his sword right or how many blows it took on his spoon to cool his soup, she used to worry about ripping off all the wanted posters with sketches of her face or if she was going to wake up to a knife at her throat the next morning- it _sickened_ her.

Now, he wasn’t so bad. He was just… there. Surprisingly, very caring and friendly. She found the rumors about his pearly whites to be true, oddly enough. She also realized how tall he was (in fact, quite tall), as he towered over her by a head. His voice reminded her of the softness stuffed inside silk pillows (a cliché thought, she felt her own cringe). Not as prideful as she thought, but still one of the most boring of the male soldiers around her. She pondered all of this as she sprawled carefree in a barren tree by the castle, rough skin of the branch itching her back. Watching two scraggly-haired boys converse, one being Dwyer and the other, the young royal she was just thinking about.

“They’re both so damn humdrum. That one’s just weird, but I didn’t know their interactions would be so lifeless,” she muttered, careful with her volume to stay unnoticed. “Kiss or something, anything!”

The boys with unkempt locks continued their ordinary conversation about how increasingly frigid the temperature gets every day, as she yawned and shivered in her sanctuary. Arms gripped a tattered book tightly against her chest. She opened it to flutter through pages of scribbles and doodles of hearts. She regretted forgetting to bring something to write with, as all of her “best” ideas were coming to her.

She giggled to herself, letting her mind roam into fantasy. “Maybe it’s because they’re out in public… but if they were in the hot springs maybe… For no one to see them…”

The two waved farewell to each other, as Dwyer trudged off to gods know where. She groaned, staring back off into the azure sky, disappointed her spying session was over. Closing her eyes momentarily, she felt the caressing breeze of the wind across her cheeks. Something about the coolness comforted her as it kissed her eyelids shut. Shoulders relaxed and suddenly the pain of piercing bark ceased on her back. A breath in, a breath out; it was rare to let herself unwind completely like this. It was almost as if she was about to fall into slumber at any moment…

“Hey, Nina-”

She screeched, losing her balance and tumbling past the twigs that scratched her exposed skin onto the grass. Landing face first, she struggled to pick herself off the dirt, cringing in agony. She could at least bring her eyes up to the fool who dared to disturb her- that fool being none other than the innocent prince. Already a king of fools, she figured.

“Gods, Nina, are you alright? Here,” Siegbert held out his palm for her to take, only for the girl to swat at in annoyance.

“I _was_ before you had to interrupt me!” Nina huffed, finding equilibrium on her feet again, dusting her dress off.

“I-I’m sorry, it certainly was not my intent to… make you fall out of that tree,” he stuttered, nervous at her new anger towards him. “I have to ask, and I don’t mean to pry, but why were you up there anyway?”

“None of your concern, _your highness,_ ” she sneered. “What do you want? You’re lucky I can’t kick your ass, or I’d get locked up.”

He was taken aback by her foul words, as she was often very calm and collected towards others. “Well… I’m not sure how to ask this, as I have no desire to offend you in any way or-”

“Siegbert, please, out with it! I’m growing more irritated than I already am.”

“Nina… Why were you staring at me?”

Pupils widened, shoulders clenched, and blush scattered over her face with the flow of his words.

“Me? Staring? At you? You’re full of yourself today, aren’t you?”

“I am only being honest. You were quite visibly staring at me when I was talking to Dwyer.”

“I certainly wasn’t! You’re delusional.”

“So, you were staring at Dwyer?”

“N-no! Gods, that’s even _worse._ ”

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, I won’t be furious at any answer.”

How was he so damn calm about himself, with a naïve expression plastered on his face? She crouched back in disgust, nervous when reading between the lines of what he was suggesting. “I don’t have to be embarrassed because I wasn’t doing anything. You’re clearly lying to make yourself look better.”

“How am I doing that when we’re the only two people around?”

He was right. No one else was to be seen, not even in the distance, the other boy long gone. Completely alone- whether she wanted to admit she didn’t mind it or not.

“Because… ugh, forget it! I’m leaving!”

He noticed a leather covered book with scratches in the material, picking it up with the dirt smudging his gloves. Tilting his head, he studied the outside with confusion. “Wait, you forgot this!”

Swinging her head back in his direction in horror, snatching her sacred text from his hold. Nina grimaced, wishing he’d wipe the surprised expression off his pretty boy face… which looked so much softer being only a foot away from it. “I was _not_ staring, so you better drop it.”

Without looking back, she walked away, holding the back of her hand to her face to feel the inevitable heat.

.

Precise, careful, a smooth flow of finger migrations calloused by a string and arrow. She hid behind a collection of broken rocks, finding a crack big enough for her aim. A tongue poked out slightly between her lips, signaling her focus as her eye centered on a duo of Faceless in the distance. The first arrow, glowing bright with the aura of a spell, pierced the inhuman brute in the back. It crashed down with a roar, instantly lifeless as the body met the ground. The other desperately flung its head about, searching for the threat, before another arrow sunk into its chest. The duo’s fate was shared, the ground shaking for just a moment.

Siegbert observed her stunned. She managed to silently kill not one, but two of the monsters, completely unnoticed. The clandestine nymph.

His surveillance was interrupted by a blow to the back, causing him to fall off his horse. The steed cried out, hooves stomping violently in the mud. Another gargantuan Faceless threw another punch at the boy, as he successfully blocked the attack with his lance. He fearfully hurried to his feet, pulling his horse behind him. The creature attempted another swing at him- until a familiar sparkling glow penetrated between his eyes. It fell to its knees, sputtering a muffled roar.

“What are you waiting for? Kill it!”

He gathered all mental strength back to him as he plunged the lance straight into the heart of the beast. It convulsed before finally losing vitality. He kicked at the legs to make sure it was truly lifeless, a sigh of relief escaping his throat. Siegbert turned to see a furious maiden face, dusted in faint scatters of dirt.

He held out his right hand, showcasing a ripped glove and blood crusted onto the palm. He forced a smile, well-aware that she was going to unleash a storm of scolding at any minute. “Thank you, you really saved me, Nina.”

“You’re damn right, I did!” she shouted, failing to acknowledge his gesture. “Are you thick? Pay attention when a giant monster comes up behind you, because I won’t be there next time to save your ass.”

“It just came up behind me without warning, I promise! It must have been… much quieter than the others,” he attempted to convince her.

“Or, maybe if you stopped staring at me in the middle of battle, you’d be more in tune to your senses.”

Siegbert blushed at her accusation, discovering a new hybrid sense of back-talk and agitation. “I was not staring, Nina.”

“Don’t play this game with me again, _your highness,_ ” she mocked, clenching her bow in anger. “You were definitely the one staring this time.”

“Then how come you never said anything?”

“Maybe because I’m, you know, trying to focus on killing the enemy. Ever thought about that?”

“You’re misunderstanding, I think you must have noticed me right at that moment.”

Nina made an annoyed sound with the air between her teeth, giving him a look of confusion. “At that moment, you mean by the two or three minutes you’ve been sitting on your horse spying on me?”

Quickly avoiding eye contact from the fired-up adventurer, he jumped back onto his startled horse, fastening his black and gold shoulder plate back in its secured place. He checked the rest of his armor as an excuse to stay away from her miffed gaze. “Well, I was sent to come get you in the first place by Leo. The area is almost cleared out. We all get worried when you roam off alone.”

“I can take care of myself,” she interrupted. “I don’t need you to come save the day.”

It was all so reminiscent. They were alone again, only they were surrounded by the carcasses of Faceless and mossed-over rocks. The coo of the chilling wind filled their awkward silence, as they both had absolutely no clue what to do in this situation. Nina was remarkably livid; he could have gotten killed if he had stayed that careless. Siegbert wondered why she was so furious with his observation of her, as he was only admiring her effectively stealthy tactics, with the possibility of how amusing the sight of her tongue was peeking out of her lips.

“I am not saving you, I am making sure you’re not stranded in the middle of the mountains,” he convinced the stubborn girl, holding out his hand again. “Now, get on.”

With a sigh of annoyance, Nina ignored his gesture yet again and struggled to get onto the back of the horse behind him. She attempted to climb the tall steed, hopping in desperation, only to fail and hit the ground again. Siegbert chuckled, but was not quiet enough to conceal it from her.

“I’ve… never been on a horse before.”

“I have noticed. Are you going to grab my hand yet?”

Rolling her eyes, she accidentally met his, accompanied by a white smile. She swore the irises were a light brown, but were crimson in actuality. She hesitantly let the prince assist her up. He commanded his horse north, galloping with haste.

“I’m not going to let go of the fact that you were staring at me quite obviously,” Nina reminded him, silently panicking at her arms forced to wrap around his torso.

“What a coincidence, since I still remember when you were spying on me in a tree a few days ago,” he replied, thankful she couldn’t see his smirk.

She remained silent, unable to brainstorm a snarky comment in response. Unfortunately, she remembered how hard it was talking to boys when flustered.

.

It was as if he had a death wish. Siegbert said his prayers and crossed his chest before knocking on the wooden door. There was no telling for sure what was worse, the time being close to two in the morning or the recognizable tattered journal secured in his hand. Sweat collected on his brow as the doorknob jiggled from the other side.

There she stood, rubbing her eye with her free hand, in a long, eggshell shirt and legs bare. Onyx locks tussled upon hanging shoulders in abundant curls and waves. It was a sight he felt was inappropriate, showing up to her door, uninvited and observing the figure in her night clothes. He wasn’t sure what compelled him to act out of chivalry.

After moments of hurried blinking, a rush of anxiety swept through her stomach as she recognized him. “What the _hell_ are you doing here? Do you have any clue what time it is?”

“I am sorry, but I have-” he tried to explain, before the sleep-deprived maiden pulled him into her bedroom and shut the door.

“You have a loud voice for someone who’s usually quiet,” Nina growled, moving the saucer holding a slowly melting candle onto her night stand. “I hope you have a good explanation.”

“Why did you bring me in? It was just going to be quick, no need to get dramatic.”

He didn’t dare to sit down anywhere, on the vacant chair or definitely not the bed. Siegbert felt he was already imposing far too much on her at an uncomfortable situation. She plopped back onto the bed, taking the end strands of her hair and twirling them, face still teamed with displeasure.

“Because my mother and father’s rooms are right across mine. If they heard I had a _boy_ coming to see me at this hour, especially you of all people, mother would destroy you- while my father gets a kick out of watching. Now, talk.”

The image of Nyx’s heinous incantations casted upon him while Niles sadistically observed caused chills down his neck. A faint glow of the candlelight beamed upon her face. He was unable to decipher between a red blush or influence of an orange hue from the fire. This state presented her softer, warmer, innocent in contrast to her daylight form.

“Well, I was going on a walk in the courtyards, when I found this,” the prince started, pulling out the book from behind his back. “This is yours isn’t it?”

Panicking, Nina dashed off the mattress, snatching the book from his fingers. “You didn’t open it, did you? Did you read anything? I will kill you right here if you did!”

“I promise, I did not flip through a single page.”

She sighed heavily, hugging the book tight, tears threatening to form from utter embarrassment. How could she be so careless? How could she let this fall into the hands of someone like _him_? She prayed he wasn’t lying about looking through her racy tales.

“From the last time you left it, I figured it was quite important to you. I did not want you to feel devastated in the morning.”

She searched for words, but her mouth was frozen shut. He took her silence as a signal to leave, now that is duty was finished.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you so late, I shall be on my way now. Goodnight,” he said, mentally slapping himself for forgetting basic manners towards a woman.

“Siegbert, wait,” she whispered, grabbing a hold of his sleeve cuff. “Sit down.”

His body tensed, curious and afraid of her intentions. Slowly lowering himself on her bed, he reminded himself that he must control himself next time, for this was not a situation a future king should be in. He wanted to do the right thing as a gentleman, and instead this made him look barbaric as a ruffian. Siegbert hoped she did not royally analyze it to the same extent.

“I apologize for my harshness towards you lately, but now I want to thank you. I would be a mess in the morning if it wasn’t for you,” Nina softened her voice, finally turning to match his eyes.

Even while sitting, she noticed the significant height difference between them. The blonde mess of curls flowed perfectly, untouched against his nape. He attired a similar white garb with the buttons undone at the top, so disorderly for a prince. He accepted her gratitude with a smile and a nervous cough, eyes darting everywhere but her. She sympathized with his awkwardness, as she could not control her graceless words with such a boy in her bedroom.

“Can I ask why have you been up so late? Especially out walking?” Nina asked, shoving the book in her nightstand drawer.

Why was she asking? Was she really so curious to know about such things, even after having such an attitude not even days before?

“I like to take walks best when everyone has gone to bed; it’s very peaceful.”

“That’s so cliché.”

There was a strange comfort in the reminiscent tone of badgering.

“Maybe it is, but I like my alone time.”

“You like being alone?”

“Well, not necessarily all the time. Doesn’t everyone like to be alone sometimes?”

An inch closer to a palm, he draws back quickly, yet unnoticed, as she is still burning into his shades of scarlet. He was at a loss of where this conversation was going, but there was something intriguing about the furrow of her brows when she was curious, the gripping of the bed sheets under her palms, legs crossed with the knees still in close proximity of his fingers.

“I wouldn’t say everyone...”

Since her arrival from the deep realms, Nina had made friends, but there was still something missing that she could not fathom. There was no matter, not in the abundant brunches with Forrest, or hair-braiding sessions with Ophelia, or spars with Soleil. She still found herself stuck in bare trees and writing novels that existed only in her mind.

He wished his father debriefed him more on how to properly talk to young women at his age, or at least to certain ill-mannered Robin-hoods that always had unruly strands pop out of her braids. There was another moment of silence, the crickets singing their dusky chorus.

“Y-you know, when I was staring at you before, it wasn’t what you thought,” Nina stuttered, hoping to break the silence. “I write a lot in my journal, and I get a lot of ideas by… observing my surroundings.”

An obvious lie, in the many senses.

“It never troubled me, Nina. I for one have no excuse for the last battle. The way you killed those Faceless from so far away was stunning,” Siegbert complimented the drowsy girl, who then shied away from his gaze. “What do you write?”

Before she could stutter her gratitude, another kick in her gut panged her. No one was ever interested in diving into her interests and her hobbies, and she preferred to keep it that way. Yet, the pure expression was limpid as soon as she turned to him.

Sighing, nail edges scraped her teeth, she spoke bluntly with the bubbles of her anxiety bursting. “Romance.”

Not even a flinch of a blonde strand.

“Would you ever let me read one of your pieces?”

“I don’t think you’d want to read anything like this.”

There was another pause where the only sound was the dust particles dancing across the air, the creaking of the floor boards situating, a tentative swallow followed by a muttered _but maybe someday._ A satisfying lie fit for the most naïve of royals.

“I love reading, so I probably would not mind a bit of romance,” he chuckled at her bland response, possibly out of nervousness. “Even though I am quite clueless in such frivolities.”

She started to dislike the formality in his voice, ornate sentences never ceasing to flow so naturally. _He always has to make me sound like a damn idiot. The hell does that even mean?_

"Really? Your father doesn’t make you go on fancy dates with other royal-fancy-whatever kind of girls?”

He held back another chuckle; so childlike without proper sleep. “We _are_ in the middle of a war. I don’t have a lot of time to think about courting, anyway. Father expects a lot from me if I’m to be king one day.”

“Gods, Siegbert, you’re not even _technically_ a prince yet. You have so much time until you become a king.”

He strangely adored that she didn’t talk to him like everyone else just because of his _technically prince_ status; the careful pricking of statements, fearful to step on the eggshells of royal privilege. Yet, not her- as if she were never sleeping in a bed provided by the royal family above her. It simply intrigued him, but there were no traces of why in his thoughts. She drew closer.

“Yes, I am fully aware, but I can’t afford to disappoint,” the blonde breathed, pale knees almost touching his finger nails before he moves to clasp them in his lap. “Though, I know my parents expect me to begin at least finding a queen once the war is over. The time will come and- I may be doomed to disappoint.”

“Do you ever chill out and realize you don’t have to do _everything_ that’s expected of you, and that you’re not just some vessel of traditional royal bullshit?”

No sharpened blade or combative tactic his father taught him could ever prepare him for being called out about his self-confidence, especially by such a sharp-tongued girl. Siegbert opened his mouth, but failed to find the words to defend himself. Silently victorious, she exchanged a boy’s shy gaze with an amused smirk- and that was when the corners of her lips hooked towards her dimples.

“Have you had your first kiss yet?”

He was sure his face roared with a fiery, red glare from her burning question. Panic roared flames in the pit of his stomach. The colors in the room drained from the darkness, but she could tell he was concealing an embarrassed shade by staring at the patterns of her blankets. White roses with pretty, blue thorns.

“I have not.”

“Do you want to? Like, right now?”

This was out of character for Nina to be asking someone of the opposite sex to kiss her, while usually she could not breathe the same air as another boy without panicking. Yet, there was something comforting about the blonde; maybe it was the soft contour of his cheeks blending into his flawless skin that made him look more trusting, or the calming whispers of his voice.

“N-Nina…” he stuttered, desperately searching for the right response as his eyes darted into hers. “Are you saying that you l-“

A frustrated groan escaped through the cracks of her teeth. “Don’t get ahead of yourself there, _your highness._ ”

The sarcasm only shook his nerves more than when he first entered the room, possibly along with her nightshirt exposing the white of her thighs. He looked away again, as he wasn’t sure how much embarrassment he could take in such a short time.

“I only suggested that because I haven’t either. Since we’re talking about it, why don’t we both just try it so we don’t suck when it actually happens. It doesn’t even have to count, since we don’t, you know… _like_ each other or anything,” she defended herself over her random, suspicious request. “Sieg, look at me.”

The sudden nickname threw him off. No one dared to change his name, even in such casual situations. There was no sense of control with her choice of words, flowing right off her tongue and straight to his heart. Fascinating- his thought process halted as her face conveniently teleported closer in front of his vision, sweet breath ghosting over his skin.

“…Okay.”

What a theatrical panic, as if she expected him to say no.

“Okay?”

“Meaning, I agree to this.”

“Then why aren’t you doing anything?”

He observed the girlish figure sitting on her knees, facing him on those silky sheets. Impossible to hide her anxiety any longer, her fingers crushed the bottom of her night shirt, heart beating faster. The difficulty in his memory was picking out the moment when he decided to kiss her; the clumsy blinks at his lips, her shaking fingers as she pushed a bang behind her ear, the quick glint of the candlelight in her eyes. What he was sure of was a plush softness against his mouth and a hand carefully pinched under her jaw. Nails could have possibly tugged at his sleeve. When he pulled back, those same nails begged him closer as they cupped his face for another kiss. She found a peace against his lips.

He found that hearts skipping a beat did not feel like such a cliché as everyone made it out to be.

.

There were obstacles in Siegbert’s life, a few to count off the digits of his sword-hand. The first one was Nina; she stood in the way of his princely duties with furrowed eyebrows and uneven, ripped nails. Quite literally _stood_ in the way before he could swing at the training dummy sewn together out of three potato sacks. _You’re really going to reject my offer to go to the storehouse with me? Where you could be totally alone with me… kissing me… maybe even-_

He chided the aroused youngblood to never speak those bold words in broad daylight, especially with prayer being held in the next room. The poor, inexperienced boy was quite appalled that of all places, sneaking into the privacy of the storehouse for… _frivolities_ as such- excited him horribly to the point a desperate need to relieve the tension around his belt. Thus, was the beginning of viewing his daily training, prayer, studies, as obstacles from his duties to Nina. Siegbert’s treasured religious morals also became an obstacle from satisfying his duties as a proper lover. Each concupiscent occurrence ended in awkward halts, to be so close and all of a sudden his lips would detach from hers- there was no telling who it pained the most. Of course, he wanted her, he told her every day she blessed his presence. Yet, he must not forget he is royalty above all. This statement made her furious every time.

Nina’s casual change of demeaner around him was remarkable, it almost made him afraid she didn’t truly want him. Every other attractive in the slightest man intimidated her to recluse back into her voyeuristic ways (something the prince stayed atrociously oblivious to). Even others noticed the mild teasing or stifled giggles when the two were together in presence of the public eye. To everyone around them, they tried to make sure there were no suspicions of a romance. Behind closed doors- the locked doors of the musty storehouse, surrounded by the clutter of cedar wood and iron- love was consumed as hard ale to a thirsty Oni. Their lungs stung, choking on amorous concoction.

This cycle of sultry skin and climaxes that never climaxed proved a tease to Nina until her palms glowed red and itched from contact with the rotting wood, bruises on her stomach ached as he ran his nails over them, and _of all Naga’s holiest creations_ his hand cramped after two minutes. This frustration carried over to their every moment together. Now, it felt natural to be together on missions, clearing out enemy lines until it was just the two alone. They often purposely strayed far from the rest of the group, despite Xander’s commands. A father’s logic could not stop even a prince from falling for a time-bomb princess, with a charcoal cowlick for a fuse.

Beruka glided in the distant sky on her wyvern, the signal to come back to the meeting spot before heading back to the castle. Siegbert led his horse to a petty stream, loosening his grip on the reigns to help her drink. Nina stood next to him, fiddling with the strings of her bow, sporting a soured expression. Even in her unexplainably random moods that changed with a quick swing of an axe, he looked and looked at her with the faintest glitter in his eyes. He kissed her with an agonizing ache like the pluck of a violin, cupping his hands against her jaw. She returned softly, but quickly turned her head away so that braids hit his chest plate.

“Why kiss me here?” she hissed, adjusting the quiver strap over her chest.

“Because I’m in love with you,” he confessed shamelessly.

“Oh, please, Sieg,” she groaned, eyes rolling in place.

This mood of hers was strangely unsettling.

“Why would I not kiss you here? I’m prepared to kiss you anywhere,” Siegbert feathered kisses on the crook of her neck before she pulled away.

“I don’t want to get started on anything we can’t finish.”

“Nina, what are you on about?”

“You _know_ what I’m on about.”

“Clearly, I do not. If I did, I would not have asked,” he increasingly became annoyed as he changed the tone in his throat. “Enough with the guessing games and tell me what is wrong.”

The frazzled girl took in a breath, the air still stained faintly with fresh blood. She could taste the iron between her tongue and teeth, covering the tracks of her lover’s lips.

“It… _always_ starts when you kiss me- and I want you to kiss me until this stupid war tears us to shreds,” Nina’s voice began to tremble. “…but it never finishes. You always bring me up but never back down, it’s torturous.”

He furrowed an eyebrow, tightening on the reigns. “Are you talking about when we-“

“Yes, Siegbert, Naga almighty, I don’t even want to hear it come out of your mouth. That’s how much this frustrates me.”

“Is _that_ all you care about?”

“Is all you care about everything else but me?”

“This is ridiculous. You know I care about you more than anything in my life. Does what I give you not suffice?”

Nina planted her feet into the damp ground, keeping enough composure to not walk away with anger. “I love what you give me, but I want more of you. You drive me crazy.”

The horse comes up from the water, nuzzling at the back of his neck. Nina begins to place her satchel and bags tied to the side of the saddle, avoiding Siegbert’s gaze as if she had not been speaking the whole time. With every second she stares away, his blood boils another degree. Yet, he is patient; the love he has for her conquers every kingdom, annihilates both Nohr and Hoshido, shatters earth. Through the casual fuss, her vulgarity blunt as stone spearheads, he was in a heaven spread wide with hell flames warming him like baby’s blanket.

“I want you hopelessly and dreadfully, Nina. That will never change for as long as I breathe. However, I am born a man of faith and loyalty to my kingdom-”

He could tell she tuned him out before his sentence could end and politely ignored her muttering _you care more about being king than me._

“I cannot do what you want me to do unless we are married. This should not be a problem since-“

“Sieg, don’t you fucking finish that sentence,” she became flustered, covering her ears. “I don’t even want to think about marriage right now; in fact, not any time soon. What if we don’t last by then?”

“You have your doubts?” he spoke with his heart dropped to his ankles.

“Sometimes.”

The prince hopped upon his horse, pausing to gaze at the moon glowing above, peaking trough the slowly darkening sky. A brief thought of her romantic convulsions in the storehouse bothered him horribly. It was proven possible that he could desire, hate, crave, despise, _love_ an entity all at once. The memories smothered his polluted emotions.

He explained with the utmost, practiced patience his tutors prepared him for. “We may be young. We may be dysfunctional at times, but I love you, Nina. I love you when you’re about to fall out of tree after falling asleep. I love you when you’re moaning in my arms. I love you when you’re accusing me of not loving you.”

She picks at an invisible mark on her face to hide the blushing.

“I love you enough to call you my wife, whenever you’re ready. Even if you stopped loving me, I would feel all the same,” Siegbert carried on a poetry. “But it frightens me that you might have already and I’m just a fool.”

She sighs, reaching out to grab the hand offering to help her up onto the back of the steed. “You’re so corny, you know that, _your highness_?”

The emptiness was replaced by a churning pit in her stomach. She wondered to herself as she hugged at her lover’s waist as they rode in silence, only the clacking of hooves against the dirt to be heard. Growing up in the streets, swiping coin from the rich until her fingers rusted, could have never prepared her to harbor what she felt for the very same kin she stole from.

.

Siegbert’s Sundays were dedicated to his faith and family prayer, light studies and the absence of training. Except, on the day he hid the little black book under his pillow, he devised the perfect plan (the perfect plan fit for a mere hopeful child, but a plan nonetheless). Scorching water to stimulate a temperature and hot sweats. Looking away from his mother’s eyes as she raised her hand to his forehead, a faux cough shuddered his vocal chords. The deceitful boy shivered in his silk bed sheets, mostly from anxiety that such a woman as his mother was not easy to fool.

“My little prince,” Charlotte cooed, running slender digits through his messy, blond follicles. “Rest up for today. I’ll make sure to tell Flora and Felicia not to disturb you unless called for.”

He thanked his mother, quickly hoping to create rasp in his voice. Her bushels of golden were tucked neatly into a braided bun. Ghosts of lavender and cottons scents danced around the room. Siegbert closed his eyes and buried his cheek into the pillow, cautiously listening to the clacking of heels towards his bedroom door. She opened the door, swinging her head around one last time at her son.

“You know, you ought to be careful in the cold late at night. I only hope Nina bundles up more than you do.”

One of the many wonderful things he adored about his mother was her profound understanding of love, even more so than his father. She spoke with tough love and a soft heart. She comforted sweetly when he cried. She nodded and listened with great attention about his details on Nina. Coming from a background without royalty gave her more time to be young and in love properly.

Moments after his door shut, he felt around for the book under his head. If lying to his own mother wasn’t enough, his conscious depressed him by lying to the girl he loved. Nina had come to him, tears dripping and face flushed, devastated over the loss of her journal. All of the writing she accumulated over months, possibly in the hands and eyes of the wrong. Siegbert swore he had not seen a trace of it- and he told the truth. He promised to help search high and low for it after his studies, calming her with a kiss upon her forehead. He discouraged himself on his abilities to comfort her, her emotions fluttering in the wind. If only his mother passed down her natural comfort, maybe he could understand better. Shocked, he never seen her with such intense emotion about anything.

A day later, Felicia scrubbed the saddles and discovered a small satchel hanging off of his. Nina’s things were forgotten on the side of his horse since their last mission. Siegbert’s feared sins against Naga were considered as he lied to his mother in order to cease his suspicions before he could not keep the secret from Nina any longer. He wondered what sort of soul crushing he would endure the next time he saw her. This was wrong- horribly wrong. Even Nina made him realize, what is a man without his flaws? Even if he is to be a king one day.

The alone time he acquired with his deceit proved to be too long, for if it was only shorter, he could have stopped flipping through each and every page before his thoughts came to a halt. Her writing was in such scratch that it was almost deemed unreadable. With a careful eye, Siegbert decoded each pen stroke. In those moments, he began to wish he never opened the book. The missing pieces formed together in a messy finale; her spying on pairs of men, the giddy nervousness overcoming her whenever more than one was in the area, confused ideals on sexual pleasures. Vision skipped over dainty flicks of commas and periods, each sentence overflowing with an abundance of speech he never heard of- even in his studies.

_Frivolities._

He could hear Nina’s mockery of the word in her imaginary voice. Salacious pricks of the tongue had most definitely dripped in blood from her mouth to the paper. The number of debauched phrases were as frequent as prayers on Sundays. The prince felt uncomfortable, yet unable to stop reading. Two men working as mercenaries. A prince reunited with his childhood best friend during a battle (she was easily inspired by surroundings, no doubt). Nobles from separate kingdoms sharing differentiating ideas over tea. The shock her writing provided him was quite terrifying. He truly expected different from the love of his life.

Quickly flipping to the end of the book, Siegbert was unsure how much of the lewd tales he was willing to stomach through. He lived a sheltered lifestyle in the castle, yet he managed to fall for a girl like Nina who knew so much. One last story, with only few blank pages as a finale on the spine. _Fool to Thieves_ it was titled in fanciful cursive, the print neater than the earlier counterparts. This piece was unique to the other raunchy tales, reading it breathed fresh air into his lungs. He scanned it twice in full with leery eyes, attempting to contemplate the emotions evoked in him afterwards. The summary was a simple plot following a young thief who breaks into the prince’s room one night to steal his riches. As she visits more, she begins to fall in love with the prince and after getting caught, they sprout an affair that lasts for years until the prince marries and becomes king. By the end of the tale, he forgets his former lover to focus his gods-given duty of being king, leaving her broken-hearted.

Siegbert spent the nights after tossing to the rhythm of pestering reflection. Playing the events taken in _Fool to Thieves_ repeatedly in his head, he could envision the thief with messy, charcoal braids smiling with one of the front teeth ever so slightly crooked. In the arms of this prince, Siegbert knew he had to have some strikingly similar features as well. It all made sense in the final moment. There was more to _your highness_ than the sour tone of her voice, the roll of grey irises. The cicadas agreed in unison.

The wooden door shut before him was all too familiar of the night his love began, with her ivory night clothes and dim candlelight. Gulping as his knuckle grazed the cold material, he knocked softly once. Twice. Three times. The fourth time sounded a tick louder, gently jiggling the doorknob to discover the door was unlocked. Unusual for her to be so careless at such a potentially dangerous hour. He had no excuse prepared for the evening. The cicadas were accompanying his mess of thoughts, too bothersome to sleep under. The honesty in simply stating _I hid the fact that I’ve kept your lost journal for days and read at least half of it, knowing that you will destroy my existence for even exposing the pages to the air_ was probably too much to open up with right away. The door creaked ever so slightly as he slowly cracked it open, a faint orange beaming across the walls. No shuffles audible, opening the door at almost full swing, and quietly shutting it behind him. The anxiety bubbled inside him, as he understood how inappropriate it was to not just show up uninvited, but to walk in while she was unaware.

How peaceful she looked in her slumber, hair crowded around her cheeks in crunchy waves, lashes fluttering as he gently placed his hand on the side of her face. She sat up quickly in shock with a gasp, before realizing who it truly was. Surprisingly, she smiled lovingly, leaning in to kiss him like he had not just broken into her room while she was sleeping.

“Siegbert, what’s going on? How did you even get in here?” she asked, yawning as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I knocked but you never woke up. I did not want to disturb you, but the door was unlocked and-“

She covered her face in her palms in frustration, letting out a groan. “Are you kidding me? I _always_ lock the door before I sleep. Gods, I’ve been so careless lately.”

Before Siegbert could open his mouth to finish the sentence she anxiously interrupted, she climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. Lips grazed alike, yet hers hungry and impatient, his unable to keep up with her pace. Nina’s love surprised him everyday; her moves grew swifter, once often furrowed brows more relaxed, her playful remarks danced a clumsy passion inside. He wondered if she changed or if this lively, smiling creature was hiding under the darkness of her cape the whole time. To her, he was no prince, royal, or king in the making- but a man so ordinary, yet not ordinary enough to earn this love raw like the untouched gold of honeybees.

Oh, how that candied love rotted at the teeth when she felt around to interlock fingers and her hand was greeted by reminiscent leather. Lips ceased movements. Time halted in the dust.

“Nina, I can explain.”

“Can you? Can you really?”

There was a crack in her voice, squeaks of panic croaking in her vocal chords. Nina hopped off of the prince’s lap and took common sense with her to the nearest wall. She gripped the book tightly to her chest, refusing to look his direction. Silence and the coo of an owl tempted him to finally stand up. Grey orbs turned a glazed orange in the light when she flinched.

“You left it on the saddle of my horse on the last mission. I promise I found it recently and did not try to hide-“

“But can you promise me that you haven’t read anything?” his lover finally growled. “Don’t fucking lie to me.”

Siegbert eyed the rotting floorboard underneath them, hoping it would somehow cave in and let him fall out of existence. “I cannot. I am so-“

“Gods, Sieg, you can’t say sorry. You can’t, you just can’t,” she began to croak even more with flushes of tears falling down an overheating face..

“Why can I not say sorry?”

“Because now it’s over. We have to be done.”

“Why do you say that?”

Hysterical cries could most definitely be heard throughout the building. The frail body slid to the floor with bent knees, dropping the journal. He joined her in attempt to soothe her cries like crashing glass. There was a building fear that her parents would enter the room soon enough.

“You’re not going to be with a freak like me. Why can’t I just think normally? Why can’t I have a normal hobby?”

Limbs finally rested so that they were not fighting at her lover’s embrace. She allowed him to take her into strong arms and sob into his shoulder. Siegbert felt unsure of how to act in this situation; the confusion, the overwhelming change of pace with each action, the heartbreak of seeing his love break apart like no one had ever experienced. The aloof, cunning thief on the battlefield who never winced at the spill of a dead body once her arrow hit- this was the same woman, falling to pieces in the dark.

“You are not a freak. Nina, if you were normal- not that you’re not normal, I mean bad normal, well, you’re good normal. Gods, I mean…”

 Words rushed out of his mouth like a crashing wave. Speech was not his forte that night. The archer often found his particular choice of vernacular vexatious. This was the night she missed the perfect sentences sliding off that tea-burned tongue she tussled with in many ways. She wished he said something comforting that made sense in her disorderly brain or just shut his mouth.

“Look at me,” he collected the courage to say sternly, grabbing her face to force a gaze in his eyes. “I do not want you any other way than the way you are now. Why are you so worried that I will leave your side over some writing?”

She sniffled, chattering her teeth to hold back the cries. “You still love me? Even though I write… you know…”

He shushed her, running his hand down the back of her head down to the hair-covered shoulders. Hiccupping, she started to collect her emotions together.

“I’m sorry,” she continuously apologized as if were the only thing to do. “I’m sorry I’m like this, I don’t understand why I’m so disgusting. That’s why this is such a secret to me.”

“You are not disgusting. You do not even want to know the kind of books my uncle Leo and Lady Corrin read together.”

His unplanned joke emitted a tiny giggle from the midst of her sobbing, burying her face in his shirt. She finally wrapped her arms around his sides, snuggling close to the silky fabric. Laughing with her, he never wanted to let her go. This was the love of his life, the beautiful mess of a girl who was not afraid to speak her mind in his presence. The girl who was afraid of losing him to another when she was the only one he successfully charmed. He was the man who felt bitter jealousy when she stared off at the men in the castle, when true fantasy was him as the sole being to hold her. That chaotic blessing to be young and in love.

He picked her off the floor, placing her tired body next to him on the bed. “I may not understand either, but that is okay. In fact, I adore that I do not understand everything about you. It makes me excited to learn a little everyday… for the rest of my life.”

“Sieg, you don’t really mean that, come on,” Nina insisted, hand trying to break away from his.

“I do. What I understand more than anything is that your writing is not enough to erase my feelings for you,” Siegbert added. “In fact, your writing is truly impeccable. I have read much over the years of my studying and your flow of the quill cannot compare.”

She gave a nervous laugh, feeling the heat of a blush against the flesh of his flesh. “Well, thank you, I think.”

“I actually enjoyed the one of the thief and the king quite a lot.”

“Gods, Sieg, please stop-“

“I just did not particularly care for the ending. He should have realized that she loved him. I believe you can write a much better revision that fits.”

More silence. He actually began to hate this silence if it was not quickly ended by a snarky, high-pitched comment, or a genuine chortle, or a suppressed moan from between the petals of her lips. Clearing his throat, he signaled her to make a sound but failed miserably.

“I apologize for being so dense much of the time. I cannot say this enough to make you understand,” he confided, stomach dropping between the cracks of the floorboards. “I am so concerned with this image of royalty I feel I must always keep up with. You see, I’m afraid of disappointing many so early; my father, the rest of our soldiers, and now you.”

Siegbert continued on, unsure of when he should stop. “You came into my life reminding me I do not always have to be so rococo. I am in such denial of my raw male identity that I do not consider your feelings and what you want.”

He was interrupted by blatant laughter and a punch on the arm. A smile, Naga blessed that night with a sunrise hidden behind those crooked teeth he comfortably teased her about.

“ _Raw male identity?_ ” she mocked in question, still snickering at his choice of speech. “That’s almost as bad as _frivolous,_ Sieg. Fancy words are one thing but that just sounded awful. Anyway… I’m sorry if it comes off as I only wanted sex. I really do love you with all my heart, even if I feel like throwing up after saying that.”

The prince had never been happier hearing such sarcastic tones, a blade slathered with the syrup of spring peaches twisted into the heart.

“I, uh, don’t really have a deep reason for that,” she awkwardly began, picking at an imaginary spot on her neck. “Whenever I see you, I just want to… I want to-“

“I know, Nina.”

“I have _needs,_ you know?”

“Are you suggesting you are horny every time you see me?”

“Gods, Siegbert, don’t you have some fancy word to make that sound less blunt?”

“No, because that happens to me when I see you as well.”

She rolled her eyes, but could not hide the smile at such a juvenile phrase. “I’m starting to miss all of your fancy talk. You are _so_ lame, you know that?”

He kissed her again, as if her room was the same as it was countless months ago, with her nails resting on the sides of his face. There was peace in that space; pecks of skin dyed an orange hue in the light, the crisp lavender scent, a cool breeze creeping through the window to the heat between them, her sheets of white roses and blue thorns.

“Of course. I would not want you to think any differently.”

As difficult as it was for Nina to utter the three simple words that softened flesh, sweetened wine, and obliterated every entity other than two hearts in the smallest spaces- she spoke them very well without opening her mouth. He heard those words through the touches of her fingertips. The furrow of her brows whenever he shared vocabulary she could not understand. The quill scratching against tan pages. Siegbert saw a sides of her that no one dared to explore. Thousands of miles away from the war between Hoshido and Nohr, there was a war inside the boys’ head that rumbled the earth when he played around with the black velvet box hidden in his pocket.

“You shouldn’t have to worry about disappointing anyone, especially me. You make me happier than I’ve ever been, Siegbert, and I want to do the same for you.”

There was a time for everything. As long as his veins pumped blood to the anomalous lover at the center of his heart, he knew when that time would come.

 

 

 

_end._


End file.
